Golf Holidays in Turkey

Tucked into the lush pine forests of Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, just 30 km east of Antalya, Belek has quietly become one of the most respected golf destinations in Europe. The combination of championship courses, five-star resorts, almost guaranteed sunshine and a short transfer from the airport has turned what was once a sleepy stretch of coastline into a year-round playground for golfers from across Britain, Scandinavia, Russia, the Gulf and beyond.

From Quiet Villages to a Premier Golf Destination

The story of Belek as a tourism centre is surprisingly recent. Forty years ago, this stretch of coast was little more than agricultural land and a few quiet fishing settlements where Turkish families from Istanbul and Ankara came to escape the summer heat. The transformation began in 1984, when the Turkish Ministry of Tourism designated Belek as a special tourism investment zone and offered long-term incentives to international hotel chains and golf course developers willing to take a chance on the region.

The first 18-hole course, the National Golf Club, opened in 1994, and the rest followed in quick succession. By the mid-2000s, Belek had become the leading golf destination in the eastern Mediterranean, and today the area holds 15 championship golf courses designed by some of the most famous names in the sport, including Colin Montgomerie, Nick Faldo, David Jones, Peter Thomson and Bernhard Langer. Several of the courses regularly host major international tournaments, and the Turkish Airlines Open on the European Tour has been played here multiple times since 2013.

The wider Belek tourism region actually includes three administrative districts: the town of Belek itself, the neighbouring town of Kadriye and the larger district capital of Serik. Most of the golf courses and luxury resorts are split between Belek and Kadriye, but the entire area is marketed internationally under the single Belek name. The combined population of the two main towns is now around 30,000 permanent residents, swelling to 70,000 or more during the summer high season.

Why Belek Works So Well for Golf

Belek owes its golfing success to a rare combination of factors. The Mediterranean climate delivers around 300 days of sunshine a year, with mild winters that allow play from January through December. Summers are hot but the courses are well-irrigated and many include shaded tees and refreshment huts. Spring and autumn are the prime golfing seasons, with daytime temperatures of 18 to 26 degrees Celsius and the lowest humidity of the year.

The transfer time from Antalya International Airport is just 30 to 40 minutes, which makes Belek one of the most accessible golf destinations in Europe. Antalya Airport handles more than 35 million passengers a year and connects to dozens of European cities with daily flights, plus charter operations from Britain, Germany, Russia and Scandinavia during the peak season. The third terminal expansion, completed in recent years, has significantly increased capacity and reduced waiting times.

The courses themselves wind through native umbrella pine forest, with eucalyptus, palm trees and the occasional view of the Taurus Mountains rising in the distance. Most resorts include unlimited golf packages with green fees, transfers, equipment and even tuition with PGA professionals.

The Golf Courses of Belek

Belek now holds 15 active golf courses, with several more in various stages of planning or construction. The most respected include:

• Montgomerie Maxx Royal. Designed by Colin Montgomerie and opened in 2008, this 18-hole championship course is consistently ranked among the best in continental Europe.
• Carya Golf Club. Designed by Peter Thomson and opened in 2007, Carya is the only true heathland-style course in the eastern Mediterranean and the first in Belek to allow night golf under floodlights.
• Cornelia Golf Club. Three nine-hole loops designed by Nick Faldo, allowing 27 holes of championship play in different combinations.
• Antalya Golf Club. Two 18-hole courses, the PGA Sultan and the Pasha, designed by European Golf Design and host to several editions of the Turkish Airlines Open.
• Gloria Golf Club. 45 holes across three courses (Old, New and Verde), making it the largest golf complex in Belek.
• Lykia Links Golf. The only true links-style course in Turkey, designed by Perry Dye and built right on the Mediterranean shore.
• Kaya Eagles Golf Club. A wooded 18-hole layout that winds through pine forest and small lakes.
• National Golf Club. The original course that put Belek on the map, redesigned several times since opening in 1994.
• Sueno Golf Club. Two 18-hole courses (Pines and Dunes) with strong American influence.
• TAT Golf International Belek. A more affordable 27-hole layout popular with mid-range tour operators.

Most courses can be booked individually or as part of an unlimited golf package through the major resort hotels. Tee times in March, April, October and November are highly competitive and book up months in advance.

The Resorts of Belek

Belek holds more than 40 five-star resorts and holiday villages, with a combined bed capacity of well over 35,000. Most operate on an all-inclusive basis and offer everything from championship golf and tennis academies to spa centres, water parks, multiple restaurants serving international and Turkish cuisine, kids’ clubs and direct beach access. Some of the most famous resort brands in Belek include:

• Maxx Royal Belek and Maxx Royal Kemer, ultra-luxury all-inclusive resorts with private golf access.
• Regnum Carya, the host hotel of multiple European Tour events, with its own 18-hole Carya course.
• Cornelia Diamond and Cornelia De Luxe, two of the most stylish family-friendly resorts in the area.
• Rixos Premium Belek and Rixos Sungate, large luxury complexes from the Turkish Rixos chain.
• Gloria Verde, Gloria Serenity and Gloria Golf Resort, three connected sister hotels with shared 45-hole golf access.
• Titanic Deluxe Belek and Titanic Mardan Palace, popular with families and couples.
• Kempinski Hotel The Dome, one of the original luxury resorts in Belek.
• Calista Luxury Resort, known for its impressive spa facilities.

The all-inclusive model dominates the Belek market, and many golfers find that an unlimited golf package through a major resort offers far better value than booking each green fee separately.

Beyond Golf: Other Things to Do in Belek

Although golf is the headline attraction, Belek offers plenty more for travellers who want to combine sport with sun, culture and adventure.

Beaches

Belek sits on a 30 km stretch of fine sand and gravel beach that runs between the Aksu River in the west and the Sarisu River in the east. Several beaches in the area carry the prestigious Blue Flag designation for water quality and safety, including the resort beaches of Iskele, Acisu and Tasliburun. The water is calm and clear, with shallow shelving that makes the area particularly popular with families.

Loggerhead Sea Turtles

The same beaches that draw sunbathers in summer also serve as one of the most important nesting sites in the Mediterranean for the endangered loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta). Surveys conducted over the past two decades have ranked the Belek coast as one of the most important nesting areas in the entire Mediterranean basin, alongside the more famous Zakynthos Island in Greece. Strict regulations protect the nesting beaches between May and October, and several conservation organisations run educational programmes during the season.

Watersports and Outdoor Adventure

Beyond golf, the Belek region offers a long list of additional activities, including parasailing, jet skiing, banana boat rides, scuba diving, sailing, yachting, horseback riding through the pine forests, mountain biking, paintball, tennis, soccer, volleyball, basketball and even microlight aircraft flights. Many of the major resorts run their own tennis and football academies that host professional teams during winter training camps.

Ancient Sites Near Belek

The wider Antalya region holds some of the best Greco-Roman ruins in Turkey, and several of the most famous sites are within an easy day trip from Belek:

• Aspendos. Just 15 minutes from Belek, the Aspendos Theatre is the best-preserved Roman theatre in the Mediterranean world. Built in the 2nd century AD, it still seats 15,000 spectators and hosts the annual Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival every summer.
• Perge. About 20 minutes west of Belek, the ancient city of Perge holds an impressive theatre, stadium, agora, baths and a colonnaded main street. The site was an important Pamphylian and Roman city visited by the apostle Paul during his missionary journeys.
• Sillyon. A less visited Hellenistic and Roman fortress town set on a flat-topped hill 25 km east of Antalya.
• Koprulu Canyon National Park. A spectacular limestone gorge cut by the Kopru River, popular for white-water rafting, and home to another well-preserved ancient city, Selge.
• Side. About 40 minutes east of Belek, the resort town of Side holds an impressive Roman theatre, the Temple of Apollo on a small headland and a long stretch of restored ancient streets.

Religious Garden of Tolerance

The unusual Garden of Religions in Kadriye, opened in 2004, is one of only a handful of places in the world where a mosque, a church and a synagogue stand side by side in a single complex. The site was designed as a symbol of religious tolerance and welcomes visitors of any faith free of charge. The setting is also a popular venue for symbolic weddings.

Land of Legends Theme Park

For families travelling with children, the Land of Legends theme park in Kadriye is one of the largest in Turkey, with a giant water park, roller coasters, a dolphin show, hotels themed like a fairy-tale castle and a long shopping promenade with nightly light shows. The park has helped diversify Belek beyond pure golf tourism.

Nature and the Environment Around Belek

Despite the building boom, large parts of the Belek coast remain protected. The region holds several layers of conservation status, including the official Belek Specially Protected Area and the First Degree Natural Site. The pine forests that frame the golf courses are among the last surviving stretches of natural Mediterranean coastal woodland in the eastern Antalya region, and the wider area is rich in flora and fauna. More than 570 plant species have been recorded in the local national park area between the Besgoz and Aksu rivers, including 29 endemic species, and a nearby bird sanctuary is home to over 100 different bird species, including resident eagle owls and the camouflaged Eurasian scops owl.

The combination of forest, river, agricultural land, wetlands and sand dunes creates an unusually diverse mosaic of habitats. The famous loggerhead turtles, the bird life and the protected pine woodlands have all become part of the wider sustainability conversation in Belek as the region looks for the right balance between tourism growth and environmental conservation.

The Twin Towns of Belek and Kadriye

The heart of the region is the town of Kadriye, a fast-growing town with palm-lined streets and a population of around 13,000 people. Just 3 km east lies the town of Belek itself, slightly smaller with around 9,000 residents. Both towns have invested heavily in pedestrian zones, public squares and modern entrance gates designed in a historical style that gives the area a sense of character to match the convenience of modern resort infrastructure.

Both towns offer a wide range of shops, restaurants, bars and entertainment venues, plus weekly local markets and seasonal festivals throughout the year. Public minibus transport (the famous Turkish dolmus) runs regularly between the two towns and is a cheap and pleasant way to get around, especially along the scenic forested main road. The flat terrain and quiet roads also make the area a favourite for cycling and jogging, with the fresh sea, mountain and pine forest air a welcome contrast to the busier coastal resorts further west.

Real Estate and the Belek Property Boom

The success of Belek as a tourism centre has fed a parallel boom in residential property. Holiday villas, apartments and golf-front estates have been built at a steady pace for two decades, and the area has attracted significant interest from buyers in the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and more recently from Russia and the Gulf states.

Property values in Belek have risen significantly over the past 15 to 20 years, although the pace of growth has been uneven and depends on the wider Turkish economy and the value of the lira against major currencies. Riverside properties along the Acisu River between Belek and Kadriye, and the famous golf-front villas with private access to the championship courses, remain the most sought-after investments. Anyone considering a purchase should always work with a registered local lawyer and tax advisor and take care to verify the title deed (TAPU) and any zoning restrictions.

Best Time to Visit Belek

• March to May. Spring brings warm sunshine, mild temperatures of 18 to 25 degrees Celsius and the best playing conditions on the courses. The pine forests are at their freshest, and the loggerhead turtles begin nesting on the beaches.
• June to early September. Summer is hot, with daytime temperatures often above 35 degrees Celsius. Golf is best played early in the morning or late in the afternoon, but the beach, water sports and resort facilities are at their most lively.
• Late September to November. The classic autumn golf season, with stable weather, lower hotel prices than the spring and the major European Tour events on the calendar.
• December to February. Winter is mild and quiet, with daytime temperatures around 12 to 18 degrees Celsius. Golf is still possible most days, and the resorts run their lowest prices of the year.

Practical Tips

• Currency. Turkish lira (TRY). Major resorts also accept euros, US dollars and pounds, but smaller shops and restaurants prefer cash in lira.
• Language. Turkish is the official language. English, German and Russian are widely spoken in tourist areas.
• Visa. Most European, North American and Commonwealth visitors do not need a visa for short stays in Turkey. Check the latest rules before booking.
• Getting around. Resort transfers from Antalya Airport are usually included in golf packages. Local minibuses connect Belek and Kadriye, and taxis are widely available.
• Booking tee times. Reserve well in advance during the peak spring and autumn months. Most resorts offer all-inclusive golf packages that bundle green fees, club rental, transfers and on-course refreshments.
• Sun protection. The Mediterranean sun is strong even in spring and autumn. Bring high-SPF sunscreen, a hat and sunglasses for time on the course.
• Tipping. Standard service charges are usually included in resort prices, but caddies, golf staff and waiters appreciate a small tip in cash for excellent service.

Final Thoughts

Belek has come a long way from its origins as a quiet stretch of agricultural coast. With 15 championship golf courses set in protected pine forest, more than 40 luxury resorts within a short transfer of Antalya Airport, an extraordinary climate, ancient ruins around almost every corner and a long sandy shoreline that still hosts nesting sea turtles, this corner of the Turkish Mediterranean offers a combination that few other golf destinations in Europe can match. Whether you come for a week of unlimited golf in the spring, a winter training camp in the mild Antalya sun, a family beach holiday with a few rounds on the side or a longer stay in one of the riverside villas, Belek delivers far more than the brochures suggest, and continues to evolve as one of the most ambitious tourism regions in Turkey.